Hands on Fire !!

Even though a majority of my 'free' time lately has been occupied with the details of planning for my thru-hike, I do have to continue to stay active and eat healthy.

As part of a Paleo diet, I consume some sort of probiotic food each day.  Some people choose to take supplements - my preference is to prepare my own lacto-fermented creations containing millions, if not billions of healthy bacteria that aid in digestion, produce vitamins and enzymes in the process of fermentation, and assist our bodies in the assimilation of nutrients.  

Lacto-fermentation is a microbial process using beneficial bacteria including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. and other lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (commonly known as probiotics), which thrive in an anaerobic fermenting environment.

If you looked in my refrigerator at present you'd find a plethora of fermented foods: sauerkraut, kim-chi, kombucha, kombucha-fermented spicy brown mustard, fermented carrots, beets, and kohlrabi, home-cured black and green olives, and sour garlic dill pickles.  Since I am down to my last quart of sauerkraut, I decided it was time to make another batch.
 
I spent this morning preparing another batch of a favorite recipe: Hot Pink Jalapeño Sauerkraut.  19 pounds of green and red cabbage, a couple of heads of garlic, two yellow onions, about a dozen jalapeño peppers, two Granny Smith apples, caraway seeds and Kosher salt.  Most of the effort is in chopping that much cabbage.  It was mixed in a 5 gallon food grade bucket.  That's where the 'hands on fire' comes in.  After salting the mixture it begins to form its own brine which having the peppers in it produces a fiery liquid.

This batch produced a full 10 liter Harsch Crock ( ~2.5 gallons ), and almost 2 additional quarts.

Eating healthy in the present is important.  Planning foods to eat while living outdoors for six months is another thing.  I continue to have success with locating progressive, health conscious companies interested in sponsoring my thru-hike.  Quality food to keep me fueled and healthy is a top priority as make a plan for food.  I have some sponsor products coming in the mail that I should be receiving soon and I'll be testing them out on weekend hikes in the coming months as cooler weather arrives in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.   I've received recent positive responses from Tiger Nuts, Pure Indian Foods, Bee Free Gluten Free, Nikki's Coconut Butter and Primal Pit Paste.  Okay the last one isn't food, but from all I've read about thru-hikers' stench, I want to do everything I can to be the sweetest smelling hiker on the trail.

 “The greatest adventure is what lies ahead” - J.R.R Tolkien


The Other One